How balanced are you?

2nd January 2018

When it rains look for rainbows, when it’s dark look for stars

Yesterday was much better healthy eating wise than the day before, I’m improving let’s say, I’m bringing healthy back.  After giving my kitchen and upstairs bathroom a good clean, I put a turkey mince and lentil pie in the oven, added carrots, peas, onions and stock, then topped with sliced potato and left it in the oven on low for hours.  Only 4sp a portion, now that’s a food bargain and helps those 23 dailies go a long way, breakfast was scrambled eggs for zero, then it got a bit message on the night, a bag of M&S cheese puffs which were 5sp (ouch) and some of moms cheerios because they were they, she was eating them straight from the box and I couldn’t resist, I think the truth was I was hungry but couldn’t be bothered to go and make myself anything, I’d had a slice of bread with a bit of the turkey mince in too.  I  won’t make that mistake today, I’ll have tea thought out and ready for when I get back from my meeting tonight.

To help me with that, I’ve used the week one shopping list space in my journal to list all the foods I have in the kitchen for eating.  I’ll not need to shop this week and possibly next other than veg and bread, that’ll help the finances.

I fancy salmon for my dinner I think, I have lots of fish in the freezer so looking forward to eating all that, there’s some haddock fillet, I might make fishcakes with them.  The cod I could do a curry, then there’s the chicken breast, I’m thinking stuffed with blue cheese and wrapped in bacon mmm nom nom.  I do love food and home cooked healthy food, well it doesn’t get any better.

Yeah this month is going to be the month of working on my budget, not just my money but my time, I’m going to keep a log of where and how I spend my time and work on getting that balance in my life in all things not just food and drink. 

I’m sat here with my pint of water, I haven’t don’t that for a while, I know I spend roughly an hour a morning on my blog, it’s my bit of me time, I sit in front of my computer and reflect on the previous day, think about the upcoming day and process my thoughts.  It eases me into my day and I enjoy taking that hour for me, even if it does mean getting up at 5am most mornings, I’ve actually been up since 4am this morning.  Spent that time putting together a poster for a colleague, my brain works better in the morning.

Now balance isn’t something you find, it’s something you create and you can’t do that until you work out where your energy is going.   That quote yesterday ‘We don’t buy things with money – we buy them with hours from our lives.’ really had an impact on me, I’ve just printed it off and stuck it to the bottom of my computer screen because I don’t want to forget it – money isn’t everything.  Yes we need it to pay the bills and buy stuff, but we don’t have to buy too much stuff.  I happen to enjoy spending some of those hours from my life doing nothing, life is all about balance, and you don’t always have to be doing stuff or getting things done.  Sometimes it’s okay to sit down, relax and do nothing – heck at times it’s completely necessary.

It’s easier said than done though yeah, balancing each and every part of your life; family, friends, love, work, health – sometimes you feel like you’re just spinning plates to keep everyone happy.  Everything is so rushed in this world, we’re all expected to do everything fast, heck you can get a delivery from Amazon the same day now, that’s ridiculous, what’s even more ludicrous is we expect it the same day.   I was really frustrated Friday afternoon knowing I couldn’t get some wool delivered before January 1^st to start my project, then I realised it doesn’t have to be started on the first day of the year, I had plenty of wool to do something else with, I chilled out about it all.

Right how we gonna find some balance?  How about we start by creating some healthy habits, eat healthier, move a bit more, go to bed earlier, take some time out for yourself – these habits won’t just make you look and feel better, they’ll give you the energy you need to get the stuff done that does need doing. 

Don’t try to be someone else, make your own rules up, comparison is a killer.  For example my house will never be a palace so I won’t compare it to someone with OCD, my and Fi inboxed each other new year’s Eve with photos of our house, we weren’t competing with tidy, we were sharing our squalor and making each other feel good that it’s not just us that are untidy.  Make your own rules, find what works for you and be proud to be different.

Most importantly when looking for balance is to make time for yourself, life can be so manic, we can all find a few minutes every day to do something you enjoy, even if it’s just to sit and enjoy a cuppa.  If you think you can’t – you need to reassess your life!

And maybe start prioritizing, your to do list might be endless but ask yourself what can wait, does it matter, my wetroom floor has needed a good clean for a week now, I’ll do it tomorrow, I’ve got to get my head round that steam mop and I just haven’t had the inclination.  The world won’t end because my floors mucky.  Give yourself a break, if you don’t get everything done, it doesn’t matter.

Stop obsessing, we all have goals we want to reach but take your time, yeah I want to lose a stone (at least) but I’m not going to have a meltdown because I’m now on day four of my journal and I haven’t managed to stay on track for any of the first 3, I’ll still get there eventually, I’ve got maintenance sussed. 

Let’s all breathe, make a plan on how we’re going to get where we want to be and enjoy today.

You up for that BeYOUtiful – I am, eggs and tomatoes on toast for me this morning I reckon.